President Joe Biden will announce his decision to lift Environmental Protection Agency regulations on E-15 ethanol on Tuesday, allowing it to be sold during the summer.
The president is scheduled to travel to an ethanol plant in Iowa for the announcement even as corn prices have jumped in anticipation of a shortage in reaction to Russia’s escalation of their war in Ukraine.
The price of corn has spiked from a low of $3.08 a bushel in August 2020 to $7.69 in April 2022.
The European Union imports more than half of its corn from Ukraine and is already buying more American corn.
But Biden will talk about using more American corn as fuel for vehicles could help reduce gas prices.
Biden’s announcement is a minor action to address record-high gas prices, as the administration continues to blame “Putin’s price hike” for higher inflation.
“The President is committed to doing everything he can to address the pain Americans are feeling at the pump as a result of Putin’s Price Hike,” the White House said in a release on Tuesday morning.
Biden’s announcement drew support from Iowa Republicans but environmentalists oppose using E-15 ethanol because of increased smog and pollution in the summer heat.
President Trump also lifted restrictions on E-15 in 2019, but the decision was struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after oil refiners filed a lawsuit. The Supreme Court did not take up the case.